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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Security Council backs Annan's April 10 deadline

This is the UN Security Council Presidential Statement (PRST) on supporting Kofi Annan's mission in Syria. It calls upon the Syrian government to implement urgently and visibly its commitments, as it agreed to do in its communication to the Envoy of 1 April, and to fulfill these commitments in their entirety by no later than 10 April 2012.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and United Nations senior officials (back row) with members of the Security Council during their retreat at the Green Tree Estate Conference Centre. 04 April 2012

"The Security Council recalls its Presidential Statements of 3
August 2011 and 21 March 2012 and its Press Statement of 1 March 2012.

The Security Council reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty,
independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria, and to the purposes
and principles of the Charter.

The Security Council expresses its appreciation for the 2 April 2012
briefing of the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the League of
Arab States, Kofi Annan. The Security Council notes that the Syrian
government committed on 25 March 2012 to implement the Envoy’s six-point
proposal.

The Security Council calls upon the Syrian government to implement
urgently and visibly its commitments, as it agreed to do in its communication
to the Envoy of 1 April, to (a) cease troop movements towards population
centres, (b) cease all use of heavy weapons in such centres, and (c) begin
pullback of military concentrations in and around population centres, and to
fulfil these in their entirety by no later than 10 April 2012.

The Security Council calls upon all parties, including the opposition,
to cease armed violence in all its forms within 48 hours of the implementation
in their entirety by the Syrian government of measures (a), (b), (c)
above. The Security Council further calls upon the opposition to engage
with the Envoy in this regard.

The Security Council reiterates its call forthe Syrian authorities to allow immediate,
full and unimpeded access of humanitarian personnel to all populations in need
of assistance, in accordance with international law and guiding principles of
humanitarian assistance. The Security Council calls upon all parties in Syria,
in particular the Syrian authorities, to cooperate fully with the United
Nations and relevant humanitarian organizations to facilitate the provision of
humanitarian assistance. To this end, the Security Council calls on all
parties to immediately implement a daily two hour humanitarian pause as called
for in the Envoy’s six-point proposal.

The Security Council underscores the importance of an effective and
credible United Nations supervision mechanism in Syria to monitor a cessation of
armed violence in all its forms by all parties and relevant aspects of the
Envoy’s six-point proposal. The Security Council requests the Secretary-General
to provide proposals for such a mechanism as soon as appropriate, after
consultations with the government of Syria. The Security Council stands ready
to consider these proposals and to authorise an effective and impartial
supervision mechanism upon implementation of a cessation of armed violence in
all its forms by all parties.

The Security Council underscores the central importance of a peaceful
political settlement to the Syrian crisis and reiterates its call for the
urgent, comprehensive, and immediate implementation of all aspects of the
Envoy’s six-point proposal. The Security Council reiterates its full
support for the Envoy’s six-point proposal aimed at bringing an immediate end
to all violence and human rights violations, securing humanitarian access and
facilitating a Syrian-led political transition leading to a democratic, plural
political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations,
ethnicities or beliefs, including through commencing a comprehensive political
dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian
opposition.

The Security Council requests
the Envoy to update the Council on the cessation of violence in accordance with
the above timeline, and progress towards implementation of his six-point
proposal in its entirety. In the light of these reports, the Security Council
will consider further steps as appropriate."